THE COMPLETE ANGLER. 55 



snail moves, to that cliub you intend to catch ; let your bait 

 fall gently upon the water three or four inches before him, 

 and he will infallibly take the bait. And you will be as sure 

 to catch him ; for he is one of the leather-mouthed fishes, * 

 of which a hook does scarce ever lose its hold ; and therefore 

 give him play enough before you offer to take him out of the 

 water. Go your way presently ; take my rod and do as I 

 bid you ; and I will sit down and mend my tackling till you 

 return back. 



VEN. Truly, my loving master, you have offered me as fair 

 as I could wish. I'll go, and observe your directions. 



Look you, master, what I have done, that which joys my 

 heart, caught just such another chub as yours was. 



Pise. Marry, and I am glad of it : I am like to have a 

 towardly scholar of you. I now see that with advice and 

 practice, you will make an angler in a short time. Have but 

 a love to it ; and I'll warrant you. 



YEN. But, master, what if I could not have found a grass- 

 hopper 1 



Pise. Then I may tell you, that a black snail, with his 

 belly slit to show his white, or a piece of soft cheese,t will 

 usually do as well. Nay, sometimes a worm, or any kind of 

 fly, as the ant-fly, the flesh-fly, or wall-fly ; or the dor or 

 beetle, which you may find under cow -dung, or a bob, which 

 you will find in the same place, and in time will be a beetle; 

 it is a short white worm, like to and bigger than a gentle, or 

 a cod- worm, or a case-worm, any of these will do very well to 

 fish in such a manner. And after this manner you may catch 

 a trout in a hot evening : when as you walk by a brook, and 

 shall see or hear him leap at flies, then if you get a grass- 

 hopper, put it on your hook, with your line about two yards 

 long, standing behind a bush or tree where his hole is, and 

 make your bait stir up and down on the top of the water, 

 you may, if you stand close, be sure of a bite, but not sure to 

 catch him, for he is not a leather-mouthed fish : and after 



* Leather-mouthed fish are those possessing tough palates ; they are gene- 

 rally of the carp tribe. The barbel is a good example. Tender- mouthed fish 

 are mostly of the salmon tribe, with crisp and tender palates. The latter fish 

 when hooked, must be played with a delicate hand, lest the hook-hold tear 

 away ; the former may be played roughly without any such danger. ED. 



t In fishing with cheese, snails, or worms, you must not angle at the top or 

 surface of the water, but at the bottom, with leaded line and middle-sized float. 



ED. 



